Like Daniel Bryan, former WWE Superstar Christian was forced into wrestling retirement early due to a concussion — but don’t expect a “Fight for your dreams and your dreams will fight for you” speech out of the “Knight Fight” host. (Or an actual return to the ring, if that wasn’t clear.)
“I’m 45 years old. At some point, when is enough, enough?” Christian, real name Jay Reso, told TheWrap when we asked about a potential Bryan-esque comeback thanks to recent advances in concussion knowledge and treatment. “I get it. [Bryan] is a younger guy and it got taken from him a lot earlier. For me, it was [at] 40 years old, so. I felt like my mindset might have been different if I was in my 20s or if I was 30 years old. But I had already done so much over the course of my career and accomplished everything that I ever wanted to accomplish. It was just kind of like ‘OK, what’s the next challenge?’ And now I’m working on all these other things. It’s hard to put that aside to go back and try to do something that’s very physical and is a young man’s game.”
“Not to mention, I’d want to be able to compete at the same level I competed at when I left,” he continued. “I’m sure that I could do it, but at this point, I feel like I have nothing left to prove.”
So relax, active WWE wrestlers — sounds like you won’t have to take the Killswitch again. While we had him on the phone ahead of his History channel series’ debut, we had to ask Christian the key to an opponent surviving his pro-wrestling finisher.
“It’s all on turning your head to the side,” the multi-time heavyweight champion told us. “That’s the best way to not get your nose broke, for sure.”
Watch a Killswitch compilation below, and don’t try this stuff at home.
Not violent enough for you? Check out some chaos from Reso’s new History competition here:
Yes, that’s all real.
“Knight Fight” premieres Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, appropriately following “Vikings.” That scripted series stars Reso’s former WWE tag team partner, Adam “Edge” Copeland.
WWE’s “SmackDown Live,” where Reso used to wrestle and Bryan is currently champion, airs Tuesdays from 8 to 10 p.m. on USA Network.